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Star Trek: Insurrection
"The Battle For Paradise Has Begun" Picard and his crew must commit treason to protect an alien people's secret to eternal youth from both an attacking alien race... and from the Federation itself. Summary A small village sits under blue skies, nestled in the hills of an alien planet: home to the peaceful and mysterious Ba'ku. As the villagers go about their day, tending to crops and livestock, the quiet of their idyllic home is disrupted by a bolt of phaser fire. As the Ba'ku run for cover, the scene is played out in front of secret observers, hidden inside a cloaked Federation duckblind, set high above the village. Through special viewscreens, the observers are able to see cloaked Starfleet and Son'a scientists as they examine the Ba'ku village. They are also able to see one such scientist remove his helmet and begin firing upon the duckblind - it is Lieutenant Commander Data. village.]] Ignoring orders to stop, Data continues firing upon the duckblind until its cloak is disabled and its presence revealed to the Ba'ku villagers, who stare up in wonder. Meanwhile, aboard the ''Starship Enterprise''-E, Captain Picard and his officers prepare to greet new Federation protectorates, a people known as the Evora. With the Federation embroiled in a bloody war with the Dominion, Picard and company have been relegated to diplomatic functions, making them long for their days as explorers. In attendance at a ceremony for the Evora, is former Enterprise-D crewmember, Lieutenant Commander Worf, on leave from his assignment on Deep Space Nine. Picard, however, isn't at the ceremony long before he recieves a communique from Starfleet Admiral Matthew Dougherty, who informs Picard of the incident involving Data. Despite the admiral's rejection of Picard's offer for help, the captain decides to set course for Sector 441 and the Ba'ku planet, deep inside a region known as the Briar Patch. Enroute, Commander Riker and Counselor Troi uncover what little details they can about the duckblind and Stafleet's joint mission with the Son'a. What they do discover, however, disturbs them, indicating the Son'a as conquerers of two alien races - the Tarlac and the Ellora - and being in league with the Federation's enemy, the Dominion. As the Enterprise arrives at the Briar Patch, the crew is met by Admiral Dougherty and the Son'a commander, Ahdar Ru'afo - a man, like his people, with obscenely stretched skin. Ru'afo is angry, his ship having been recently attacked by Data in the Federation mission scoutship. Ru'afo stresses his belief that Data has become too dangerous and must be destroyed. .]] Understanding the need to get to Data before the Son'a do, Picard volunteers to capture his officer and takes Worf and a shuttecraft to the Ba'ku planet. In orbit, Data's scoutship appears and immediately fires upon Picard and Worf; taking them into the atmosphere of the planet. In order to distract Data - who is clearly malfunctioning - Picard and, with some relucatance, Worf sing a tune from "HMS Pinafore" as they dock with the scoutship. Worf is then able to board the ship and safely incapacitate Data. Beaming down to the planet, Picard, Troi and Doctor Crusher come to rescue the Starfleet and Son'a officers from the duckblind who, despite being held by the Ba'ku, have been treated like guests. They are introduced to the apparent leaders of the Ba'ku society, Sojef and Anij, the latter being a strong and beautiful woman who immediately captures Picard's attention. It is during this brief encounter that the crew learns of the Ba'ku people's amazing peacefulness and clarity of perception and their status as a warp capable civilization. Picard apologizes for the inconvenience and he and his people beam back to the Enterprise. In his quarters, Picard briefs Admiral Dougherty who congratulates the captain and tells him to leave the Briar Patch immediately. Despite this success, though, Picard is reluctant to leave as Data's malfunction grows all the more mysterious. Having been examined by Commander La Forge, it is now clear that Data was in working order until he was shot by a Son'a weapon - but what would cause the Son'a to shoot him? , uncovered.]] With Data now repaired, Picard takes him to the surface where they meet with Sojef, Anij and a Sojef's son, Artim, who leads them to the lake where Data had been shot. Detecting strangely elevated neutrino emissions, Data opens the floodgates and reveals an enormous cloaked ship sitting inside the lake. As they approach and enter the ship, Picard, Data and Anij discover that it is a Federation vessel with a perfect holographic replica of the Ba'ku village inside. The ship's only purpose is clear: it will be used to remove the Ba'ku people, in secret, from their planet. But now even more questions remain, why would the Federation, or the Son'a, wish to kidnap the Ba'ku? Returning to the Enterprise, Picard and Data find the crew in the midst of change. Worf is now the victim of a sudden gorch - or Klingon pimple - outbreak, Riker has recently shaved his beard and reconstituted his long dormant love affair with Counselor Troi, and Geordi's eyes appear to be regenerating. Picard himself is not immune to the changes, feeling somehow invigorated. Knowing that there must be a reason for these changes, the captain goes to see Anij and Sojef who reveal the story of the Ba'ku. According to them, the Ba'ku moved to the Briar Patch from a planet on the verge of destruction over 300 hundred years ago. They discovered that the planet's rings, as well as the surrounding area, had a bizarre concentration of metaphasic radiation which would continually revive their genetic structure - in essence, the Ba'ku planet is a fountain of youth. Ru'afo.]] Picard understands the implications immediately: the Federation and the Son'a plan to remove the Bak'u and take the planet for themselves. The captain vows not to let this happen and meets with Admiral Dougherty and Ru'afo back on the Enterprise. In his ready room, Captain Picard reveals that he is aware of their plan and argues that it goes against everything the Federation stands for. Dougherty counters that the Ba'ku population consists of only 600 people and that the metaphasic qualities of the planet could help billions. Then he orders Picard and the Enterprise away. Enraged by the actions of his superiors, Picard goes to his quarters where, with a view of the Ba'ku planet below, he slowly removes each one of his rank pips and begins to set a plan into motion. Dougherty.]] Aboard the Cousteau, the Captain's yacht attached to the Enterprise, Picard prepares to go to the surface and defend the Ba'ku alone. However, he has been found out by his command crew who choose to stand with him. As Riker and La Forge to set a course away from the Briar Patch to send a signal to the Federation, Picard, Data, Worf, Troi and Crusher fly down to the planet where they prepare the Ba'ku for a trek into the mountains and out of harm's way. Almost as soon as they begin to leave the village, the Enterprise crew and the Ba'ku come under fire from Son'a shuttles. Nevertheless, with transport inhibitors in place, the Son'a are unable to use their transporters, and the Bak'u make into the mountains where they follow deposits of kelbonite ore that will protect them. .]] Furious by the ineffectiveness of their transporters, Ru'afo, with the blessing of Admiral Dougherty, orders the use of drones armed with isolinear tags. He also orders his ships to intercept the Enterprise and "escort" it back to the Ba'ku planet. under fire.]] As the Enterprise makes its way through the Briar Patch, two giant Son'a battle cruisers overtake it and open fire, using an illegal subspace weapon that opens a tear in space. With little recourse, Riker orders a warp core ejection which closes the rift, but leaves the Enterprise unable to run. On the bridge, the commander orders the ship to come about and engages the Son'a in battle, using the ship's Bussard collectors to gather metreon particles which they use to ignite the gas of the Patch and destroy the battleships. High in the mountains of the planet, Picard and company are themselves engaged in battle, fighting off the Son'a drones which have been tagging and transporting many of the Ba'ku refugees. Despite their efforts, however, Anij and Picard are tagged and transported to the cargo hold of Ru'afo's ship. It is here that Ru'afo and Dougherty order the captain to stop, but again, he refuses, telling the admiral that he has been grossly misinformed about his allies. Through his experiences on the planet, Picard has learned that the Son'a and the Ba'ku are, in fact, one people - the Son'a having been expelled are now back to punish the Ba'ku. Upon this revelation, Dougherty insists that Ru'afo's mission is over. But Ru'afo does not take this kindly, attacking the admiral and using one of the Son'a's many cosmetic surgery appliances to brutally murder Dougherty. On the bridge of his ship, Ru'afo tells his subordinate, Gallatin, that their plans have changed. The Ba'ku will stay on the planet while they collect the metaphasic particles from the rings - a process that will kill everyone on the planet as well as those in the unshielded cargo hold. Insensed, Gallatin releases Picard and helps him save the Ba'ku. As the countdown to the deployment of the Son'a collector begins, Ru'afo and crew notice and odd flash of light, and, when the collector seems to have failed, discover that they have been transported aboard the Federation holoship, now in orbit of the Ba'ku planet. Still undeterred, Ru'afo uses the holoship's transporter to beam to the Son'a collector, where he will operate it himself and collect the particles manually. With the crew of Ru'afo's ship fighting to regain control, Picard beams to the collector to stop the Son'a commander. Climbing up through the bowels of the collector, Picard confronts Ru'afo and sets the device to self destruct. Having accomplished its mission and officially halting the Federation's involvement in the Ba'ku mission, the Enterprise returns to the scene, detecting Picard on the Son'a collector. As the collector begins to explode, Picard is beamed away, leaving Ru'afo behind. Back on the Ba'ku planet, the villagers have been returned to their homes and the crew says good-bye, having reunited some of the Son'a with their long lost family. Picard, Riker, Data, La Forge, Crusher, Troi and Worf beam off the planet and the Enterprise makes its way back through the Briar Patch and into the expanse of space. Memorable Quotes "Federation support, Federation procedures, Federation rules...look in the mirror, Admiral...the Federation is old... in the last twenty four months, it's been challenged by every major power in the quadrant -- the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion... they all smell the scent of death on the Federation. That's why you've embraced our offer... because it will give your dear Federation new life." :- Ru'afo "Jean-Luc, we're only moving six hundred people." "How many people does it take, Admiral, before it becomes wrong, hmm? A thousand? Fifty thousand? A million? ''How many people does it take, Admiral?"'' :- Matthew Dougherty and Jean-Luc Picard "Remember when we used to be explorers?" :- Jean-Luc Picard "Geordi, are those pockets of metreon gas?" "Yes, commander. highly volatile. I recommend we keep our distance." "Negative. I want to use the ram-scoop to collect as much of it as we can." "The purpose being?" "The purpose being ... I intent to shove it down the Son'a's throat." :- William Riker and Geordi LaForge "We're fresh out of warp cores." :- Geordi LaForge "We're through running from these bastards" :- William Riker "I wouldn't be surprised if history remembers this one as the Riker Maneuver." "If it works!" "Either way, they'll be teaching kids at the academy not to do this for years to come. :- William Riker and Geordi LaForge (The 3rd line of the quote is from the novelization of Insurrection and is not in the movie.) "Yuck!" "Yuck?" "I've never kissed you with a beard before." "I kiss you and you say yuck?" :- Deanna Troi and William Riker Background Information Trivia *One of the early working titles for the film was "Star Trek: Nemesis", which went on to be the name of the tenth feature. Other titles included "Star Trek: Prime Directive" and "Star Trek: Stardust" - "Stardust" being chosen by screenwriter Michael Piller, a reference to the Hoagy Carmichael song. *''Insurrection'' was the last Star Trek production Michael Piller was involved in, and the only Trek film he wrote, despite having been offered the opportunity to write the first TNG feature. *Michael Piller's initial inspiration for the film was "Heart of Darkness", featuring Picard and crew going "up river" in search of Data. *The movie was concieved of, from the very beginning, as being more light-hearted than the previous installment. Paramount Pictures exces had requested it be comparable to the original series' The Voyage Home. *Piller gave Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producer Ira Steven Behr a copy of his first draft for his critique. Behr's response was not positive, promting Piller and Rick Berman to remove a large portion of the search for Data plot line, limiting it to only a few scenes. *Early drafts of the script featured the Ba'ku as teenagers. When the love story between Anij and Picard was added, the Ba'ku became adults. *At an early stage of development, the Romulans were the villains, allying themselves with the Federation to gain access to the metaphasic radiation. *The radiation itself was a reference to oil resources in the real world and the various world governments' attempts at controlling it. *The second draft of the screenplay featured Picard killing Data, then reviving him later in the movie. *When the Son'a were included in the story, they were first called the "Son'i". *The Tarlac and the Ellora were not included in the screenplay until the very last draft, before production. *With the approval of the studio, Michael Pillar compiled the various versions and drafts of the script to be published as a study on how drastically a film can change from screenplay to production, however his death in 2005 makes it unlikely such a book will be published. *The tagline "The Battle for Paradise has Begun" is very similar to the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country tagline "The Battle for Peace has Begun". *While shooting a scene on the bridge in which Picard, Riker and Troi discuss the duckblind mission, Jonathan Frakes had to wear a fake beard, having already shaved it for upcoming scenes. *This is the only Star Trek movie that does not feature any scenes on or near Earth. *This is the only Trek movie that features a ringed planet. *At 103 minutes, this is the shortest of all ten Star Trek movies, two minutes shorter than Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. *The plot bears striking similarity to a seventh-season episode of TNG entitled "Homeward", in which Worf and his adopted brother use a holodeck to migrate a civilization without its knowledge. *Jonathan Frakes, who directed this film, reportedly felt the script was weak and thus made for a less-than perfect movie, despite his confidence as a director following the success of Star Trek: First Contact. *The Son'a would go on to be mentioned later in the DS9 episode "Penumbra", indicating that there were more than just the few ships' worth seen in this film. *Although the Evora were never mentioned again, several members of the species were seen in the DS9's final episode, "What You Leave Behind". *The Tarlac would be seen once more in VOY, in the episode "Life Line", though in the form of a holographic masseuse. *The design of the Tarlac was based on lions, the Ellora on triceratops. Both make ups left the T-zone of the face - the eyes, nose and mouth area - mostly untouched in order to retain the natural beauty of the actresses playing the body shop females. The male Tarlac, however, wore prosthetic nose pieces. *Recent Trek novels have made reference to Admiral Dougherty as an operative of Section 31. *Anthony Zerbe, who played Dougherty, initially read for the part of Ru'afo. When the part was given to F. Murray Abraham, the producers offered him the role of the admiral instead. *F. Murray Abraham has said in interviews that he felt so strongly about his role in Insurrection, he would have done only Star Trek movies for the rest of his career. *Abraham also compared acting in prosthetic make up to making love in the dark. *Data's scoutship was loosely based on the Defiant class starship. *The Cousteau was named at Patrick Stewart's urging for Jacques Cousteau. Sets *Sets for various sections of the Enterprise-E, including sickbay, crew quarters, Troi's office and the ship's library were all redressed interiors used on the TV series Star Trek: Voyager. *The Enterprise-E reception hall was a redress of the observation lounge from Star Trek: First Contact, which itself was a redress of the very same room from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. *Sets for Data's scoutship, the ''Enterprise''-E shuttlecraft and Captain Picard's yacht were revamped versions of the Type-9 shuttlecraft (from VOY) and Federation Runabout (from DS9) respectively. *Many of the set pieces from the Son'a ship would later go on to comprise the interior of Suliban vessels, beginning with ENT: "Broken Bow". Wall fixtures in Ru'afo's briefing room would later appear in "Fusion" in the bar on Earth. *The computer table seen in Ru'afo's briefing room would also appear later when it was used in Star Trek: Nemesis in the Enterprise-E's stellar cartography. *Minor details on the Enterprise's bridge were changed. Most significantly, the holographic viewscreen seen in First Contact was replaced with a more traditional version and the computer consoles next to Riker and Troi's seats were removed (though they returned for Nemesis). The color pallate of the graphics were adjusted and brightened and the consoles recieved headers stating their positions. Small strips of metallic tape were also applied to the walls as highlights. *The cave set used in some scenes on the Ba'ku planet was the same cave set used throughout DS9, significantly expanded to include multiple levels. When the film wrapped, the cave retained its modifications and was most recognizably featured in the DS9 finale, "What You Leave Behind" as the Bajoran fire caves. Costumes *This movie featured the first motion picture appearance of the new Starfleet Admiral's uniform which already appeared in DS9 and VOY. *It also featured the debut of the new Starfleet dress uniform, this time a design that significantly departed from earlier designs. The new dress uniform featured a collar similar to those seen in The Next Generation uniforms and replaced prominent division colors for white over gray. Picard's uniform was white over white. The uniforms reappeared on DS9 in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" and in Star Trek: Nemesis, where Data and Worf donned the uniforms as well. *The metal bars attached to the Son'a, Tarlac and Ellora uniforms were added to denote rank. *The Tarlac wore purple uniforms, the Ellora wore blue - this was to make it easier for the audience to visually differentiate them. *Captain Picard's waistcoat, as seen in much of First Contact, never made it in the final cut of the film, but was worn in a deleted scene in which the captain spills his lunch on himself. The uniform variant would not appear again in the movies, but was seen being worn by Benjamin Sisko and Luther Sloan on DS9. Reviews and opinions *''Insurrection'' recieved mixed reviews from mainstream film critics. Reviewers Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were split in their response, one thumb down from Ebert, one thumb up from Siskel. Ebert wrote in his Chicago Sun Times review that he felt the movie's problem lie in its morality play, stating that he wasn't sure that 600 Ba'ku lives weren't worth sacrificing to help billions of Federation citizens. Siskel, however felt differently, and though he died not long after screening the film, his wife later told Michael Piller that it was the only Star Trek movie Gene Siskel truly enjoyed. *Piller himself agreed that some of what he had set out to accomplish with Insurrection did not come to fruition, but stated in interviews that he felt it was a film that Gene Roddenberry would have appreciated. *As previously stated, Jonathan Frakes has been somewhat vocal in his criticism of the film. While he did record a commentary track for the 2005 Star Trek: Insurrection (Special Edition) DVD, the track has not been released, leaving fans to wonder what exactly the director said. Box office performance *''Insurrection'' premiered on December 11, 1998, number one at the box office. With a budge of around $58,000,000 (US), it opened on 2,620 screens at $22,052,836, and went on to garner around $119,000,000 worldwide. By comparison, First Contact, with a budget of $45,000,000, opened at $30,716,131 and grossed $150,000,000 worldwide. Deleted Scenes ]] *Both Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actors Armin Shimerman and Max Grodénchik's scenes were deleted. However, Grodénchik's appearance as a Trill can be seen in the deleted scenes on the DVD Special Edition. Armin Shimerman's appearance as Quark can be seen in the photo gallery of the DVD. *In dialogue cut from the library scene, Riker and Troi delve deeper into the motivation of the Son'a, revealing that they had recently begun to suffer genetic difficulties that prevented them from procreating. This made their struggle to obtain the metaphasic particles less about vanity and more a struggle to continue their race. It also explained their need to use other races as slave labor. *A different ending from the one seen in theaters was shot, but ultimately deemed too "soft". In the original ending, Picard managed to disable the collector but Ru'afo escaped into a small pod that was then ejected into the planet's rings. Ru'afo ultimately died when he was bombarded with metaphasic particles that caused him to age in reverse and eventually disappear all together. Links and References Cast *Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard *Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker *Brent Spiner as Data *LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge *Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher *Michael Dorn as Worf *Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi *F. Murray Abraham as Ru'afo *Donna Murphy as Anij *Anthony Zerbe as Dougherty *Gregg Henry as Gallatin *Daniel Hugh Kelly as Sojef *Michael Welch as Artim *Mark Deakins as Tournel *Stephanie Niznik as Perim *Michael Horton as Lt. Daniels *Bruce French as Son'a Officer #1 *Breon Gorman as Lt. Curtis *John Hostetter as Hars Adislo (credited as Bolian Officer) *Rick Worthy as Elloran Officer #1 *Larry Anderson as Tarlac Officer *D. Elliot Woods as Starfleet Officer *Jennifer Tung as a Female Ensign *Raye Birk as a Son'a Doctor *Peggy Miley as the Regent Cuzar *Lee Arnone-Briggs as a Librarian (deleted scene) *Claudette Nevins as Son'a officer #2 *Max Grodénchik as a Trill ensign (deleted scene) *Greg Poland as Elloran Officer #2 *Kenneth Lane Edwards as an Ensign *Joseph Ruskin as Son'a Officer #3 *Zachary Williams as a Ba'ku Child *McKenzie Westmore as a Ba'ku Woman *Phillip Glasser as Young Ru'afo (deleted scene) *Armin Shimerman as Quark (uncredited, deleted scene) *Kirk Alexander as a Ba'ku Captive (uncredited) *Steven E. Daniels as Starfleet Command (uncredited) *Amy Miller as a Girl (uncredited) *Brian Scheu as Artim's friend (uncredited) Production crew *Bill Baldwin (Asst. ADR editor) *Brian Avery (Stunt Person) *Eric A. Stillwell (Production Associate) References "A British Tar"; Ahdar; Bajorans; Ba'ku; Ba'ku (planet); Br'er rabbit; Briar Patch; Captain's yacht; Cardassians; chromodynamic shield; chrysanthemum; cloaking device; Deep Space 9; Dominion; duck blind; Ellora; ''Enterprise''-E, USS; Enterprise-E shuttlecraft; Evora; Federation Council; Federation Diplomatic Corps; Federation holoship; Federation mission scoutship; Gal'na; Gilbert and Sullivan; gorch; Goren system; Hanoran II; [[HMS Pinafore|HMS ''Pinafore]]; isolation suit; isolinear tag; isolytic burst; isomagnetic disintegrator; isomagnetic disruptor rifle; ''Jak'tahla; ketracel-white; Khitomer Accords; Kolar beast; manual steering column; Manzar colony; medical tricorder; metaphasic radiation; metreon gas; McCauley; NCC-75227; Nel Bato Conference; neutrino emission; opinion poll; petroleum; Riker Maneuver; Ru'afo's flagship; Sector 441; Second Khitomer Accords; Son'a; Son'a battle cruiser; Son'a collector; Son'a drones; Subahdar; subspace weapon; subspace technology; Tarlac; tetryon; tetryon pulse launcher; thermionic transconductor; thermolytic reaction; thermolytic radiation; ''Ticonderoga'', USS; transport inhibitor; Treaty of Alliance External Links * * Insurrection de:Star Trek: Der Aufstand es:Star Trek IX: Insurrection fr:Star Trek: Insurrection nl:Star Trek: Insurrection sv:Star Trek: Insurrection